Fairy King Oberon
by Senron
Summary: Jellal gives Natsu a love potion to fall in love with Erza. Romance, comedy, and jealousy ensue. As time goes on, more and more characters will be drawn into the ever growing web of love. ErzaxNatsu. LucyxHibiki. GrayxJuvia. Some GrayxErza.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jellal's one true desire had finally come true. He had found a way to make Erza happy. He was sitting in a cave overlooking the sea. He, Ultear, and Meredy had come back here on his request, because Jellal had had a revelation. After talking to Master Makarov about joining the second Team Fairy Tail, and learning the Daimatou Enbu had been delayed by a week, he had been asked a very simple but very important question. "What will Erza think about this," was the first question Makarov had asked. He was a good man, worrying first about Erza, then all the political and legal repercussions that would ensue if it was found out that he had allowed Jellal to fight with Fairy Tail.

Jellal had thought about that question before confronting Makarov and hadn't come up with an answer that satisfied him. "I've thought about that. If Erza wants me to leave, I will. I'll leave and never see her again if that's what she needs. But this is important, and I hope she'll understand. I can tell you Master Makarov, there is nothing in the world I want more than for Erza to be happy. I've brought her far too much pain already." Master Makarov had nodded and changed the topic to small details. He certainly knew what details to focus on to lessen the Magic Council's power to punish them. From decades of experience Jellal recalled with a small grin. He remembered his time on the Council as time spent arguing and laughing at Fairy Tail's path of destruction.

After finalizing the agreement, Makarov had nodded his head and said that he would allow Jellal to fight on one of the Team Fairy Tails. As Jellal was walking out the door, Makarov had shouted at him that the Games were to be delayed by one week. He asked if Jellal and his friends needed a place to stay for the intervening time, but Jellal had shaken his head in negative. He couldn't ask Makarov for more after asking for so much already. The Magic Council would use any excuse it could to disband Fairy Tail. And allying itself with known criminals would be cause enough to get any guild disbanded, never mind Fairy Tail which had worn away all the Council's patience.

When he closed the door to the small, ramshackle building Fairy Tail called its Headquarters, Meredy was the first to speak up. "Jellal, if we're not staying here, where will we go?" she asked. Jellal thought about that. There wasn't a single place he wanted to go in this whole world. Except wherever Erza was. But he couldn't go back, couldn't let her see them after what had almost happened. He knew she still loved him, had the whole time he was on Heaven's Tower, and while he was dead to the world after the Tower was destroyed, and while he was in prison. She still loved him even after turning her childhood friends against her; he had killed one of them, the one who had also loved her. It was his memories of Simon that hurt Jellal the most. Simon had loved Erza. He had stayed loyal to her all those years. Jellal himself had tried to kill her. Yet she loved Jellal over Simon. Jellal never understood that. Why not Simon? He just wished that he had died on the Tower rather than Simon. That Simon and all their friends had joined Fairy Tail. Finally found happiness. And Erza would have found love with someone else and forgotten about him. Jellal the dark nightmare, Jellal the man who had tried to offer her to his dark god, Jellal the man about whom she told stories to her children to make them behave.

Jellal stopped for a second a retraced his mental steps. And Erza could have found love with someone else and forgotten about him. That was it! All he had to do was make her fall in love with someone else! Then she would forget him. But how?

He had learned how to manipulate the mind in his years of studying magic, and making a love potion would be child's play. But he couldn't force her to love someone. Just push her in the right direction. So he'd give it to someone else and just make her the target. She had four guys in her group at the moment, he could narrow it down to them. If it was one of them, it would happen sooner. And for every day sooner Erza found love, that was another day of happiness she could have.

Jellal thought about the four men. The tall, skinny one Jet, and his overweight friend Droy. Those two seemed to have feelings for that Levy girl, and Erza didn't seem to be especially attached to them. Then there was Gray, the man who had fought alongside Erza on Heaven's Tower, and against the Oracion Seis, he had been with her on many adventures. Jellal hadn't interacted much with Gray, but Ultear thought very highly of him. But Meredy had said that Juvia loved Gray. And Jellal wasn't ready to inflict more pain on anyone, even for Erza's sake. So that left one person. Natsu, the pink haired, fire eating Dragon Slayer that had managed to stop Jellal's evil plan.

How had Jellal not realized from the beginning. Natsu was the perfect choice. He was loud, obnoxious, a little dim at times, and very immature. But he had a loyalty to his friend's Jellal thought couldn't be matched. When Erza was falsely arrested after the events of the Lullaby Crisis, Natsu disguised himself as Erza, albeit doing a terrible job of it, and came to the trial and said he was her. No one else had the courage to even speak up in her defense. The trial had been a sham, to satisfy the public, and Erza wasn't going to be punished. And Natsu's actions caused them to spend a night in a cell. But he came with the best of intentions.

And on Heaven's Tower. Natsu could have run. Jellal, as Siegrain, had been one of the Ten Saint Wizards, the ten strongest mages in the entire country of Fiore, and that had been with only half his power. But no, Natsu had fought Jellal, for Erza. And Natsu did something no wizard had done before, eating Etherion, the ultimate magic, and had become impossibly strong. Natsu had managed to defeat Jellal. And the present Jellal would never be able to thank Natsu enough for that. But even then, the power of the Tower of Heaven would explode, killing Natsu and Erza and all their other friends who had been on the island and were now watching from a boat in the distance. Unless Erza stopped it. By giving herself to the Tower. And she had done that. But Natsu wouldn't let one of his friends die. So he did the impossible and pulled her out. He had told Erza to live for her friends instead of dying for them. Even though that had a chance of getting them both killed, he did it anyways. And Natsu had gotten them off the Tower and to safety.

There was no one Jellal believed Erza would love more than Natsu. Natsu was the most worthy man on the planet for Erza's love. And with all the pain Erza had suffered in her life, Natsu's love would be able to fix some of it. Yes. Why had Jellal needed to look at it analytically? Did it matter? He wanted Natsu and Erza to fall in love, to be happy. He wanted this to happen soon. Now. He decided where he, Meredy, and Ultear would go. They would take the risk to go back to that cave.

Because they had been fighting Dark Guilds these past six years in an attempt to redeem themselves, many people on both sides of the law would do anything to see them captured or worse. But giving Erza happiness was the greatest thing Jellal could do with his life. He was willing to risk any fate to give it to her. He wouldn't force Meredy and Ultear to come with him, but he would tell them what he was doing and ask them to come. They would understand. A chance to right the one person they had wronged most. They knew that feeling well.

And so Jellal would go. And he would use the love potion on Natsu. And that would be the beginning of his plan to make Erza happy.


	2. Chapter 2

**In my excitement to post the first chapter I forgot to say: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima. Any and all characters belong to him.**

**I would like to thank everybody who's already commented on this. I really appreciate it. **

**This chapter is far more light hearted than the last one. But there is a little blood, although it's solely for comedic effect.**

**And about the title. Erza is known as 'Titania, Queen of the Fairies'. And in folklore, Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and even in Sword Art Online, the husband of Titania is 'Fairy King Oberon'. And this fanfic is about Erza finding her Oberon. Now onto the story.**

**Edit: I just realized I completely forgot Juvia. Oops. I feel bad now.**

Chapter 2

Erza shot up. She had heard footsteps approaching her, Lucy, Levy, Juvia, and Wendy's room. Erza summoned one of her countless swords to her hand and stood up. This may be a false alarm, so she didn't want to wake the others, but she had to be prepared for the worst. Erza was the responsible one. She was the one who had to keep the others safe. She slowly approached the door. And then there was a knocking. "Erza!" came a familiar voice from outside. Natsu. Of course. Natsu. Lucy, Wendy, and Levy shot up immediately. Lucy was glaring daggers through the door at her fire breathing friend.

"Natsu, it's early and I don't want to fight you now. Let's wait 'till after breakfast." Normally Erza didn't like fighting Natsu. She knew he'd never be able to bring out even close to his full strength against his friends. Not the strength that had beaten Gajeel, and Jellal, and Laxus, and Cobra and Zero, and Faust, and Master Hades. But they could use the extra training.

What Natsu said shocked Erza to her very core. "I don't want to fight. I brought you breakfast Erza!" Natsu had never said he didn't want to fight her. It was unimaginable, inconceivable to anyone who had known him for ten or fifteen minutes. Natsu always wanted to fight the people he thought were stronger than him. It was one of his most annoying but endearing qualities.

Then Erza thought about the other thing Natsu had said. "I brought you breakfast Erza!" Never before in Erza's life, had someone brought breakfast to her simply to give it to her. It was an alien concept to her. She was touched by the gesture, so Erza opened the door. And there stood Natsu, holding a tray. And on that tray were two plates. And on each of the plates was a pile of flaming charcoal. Erza assumed it had at some point been food, but in Natsu's excitement, he had ignited it. Erza sighed. She didn't know how to react. On one hand, he was the first person she could remember bringing her breakfast to her "in bed". But on the other, it was a pile of inedible charcoal. She decided to be touched. But that didn't mean she was going to touch the food.

"Natsu, I'm grateful to you for doing this, but I can't eat this." Natsu's smile vanished. "You're probably the only human alive who could eat it. So why don't you eat it?"

"Thanks Erza," he said with a huge grin, as if she had been the one to give it to him and not the other way around. He started to suck the fire in and then the charcoal went in after. Natsu swallowed the glass of now boiling water to wash down the charcoal. "Man, now I'm all fired up!"

Erza sighed. "Natsu, I'll only eat something from you if it has never been lit on fire." Natsu nodded and ran off.

And he had left the tray behind. Silly Natsu. Erza decided to give it to him. "Hey Natsu!" she shouted at him. He turned around just in time for the flying tray to land right in his face. Erza winced inside, she hadn't realized she had thrown it so hard. And she hadn't realized she was aiming for his face. Natsu was flipped by the force of the blow, and spun most of the way around before landing, again on his face. Somehow. This was not Natsu's day. But he just shot up like nothing had happened, picked up the bloodstained tray, and ran off. Erza shook her head in wonder, how had he lasted so long.

Erza was tanning on the beach. She could see Wendy, Levy, and Lucy playing with a volleyball in the shallows, Droy floating in the deeper water alone, and Jet and Gray seeing who could swim faster. Jet had speed magic on his side, so Gray lost every time. Juvia was watching Gray. Happy and Charle were standing on in the surf.

Erza saw Happy, the magical, flying, talking, blue cat cheering near the water. She watched as Natsu walked up carrying a large pile of fish in his arms. "Fish! Fish! I love you Natsu!" He looked like his little heart was about to explode with happiness.

And then Natsu walked past him. Happy looked like his little heart shattered. Poor little guy. Then she remembered his teasing after Jellal had lied and said he was engaged. She had punted him several miles inland, but he had flown back easily enough so it wasn't a very effective punishment. This would do nicely.

Natsu kept walking until he came to Erza. "Erza, I didn't shoot fire at these fish!" he said with a silly grin. "Wanna make sushi?"

Erza had no idea how to respond. Natsu had gone to a great effort to catch these fish. And it would have taken, what seemed to Natsu, an inhuman amount of patience to not just start shooting fire at the fish. And she hadn't been able to eat the breakfast he had prepared for her. So, she would prepare some sushi. "Alright Natsu, get ready." Erza summoned a chef's knife in each hand, and summoned her cook's outfit over her bathing suit. She saw a large table near them that wasn't being used, so she would throw all the sushi on it as it was prepared. She leapt forward and started slashing. It was over in a flash. She was standing behind Natsu, and all the fish had been cleanly sliced into neat little pieces. Then small lines of blood flew off Natsu's body.

"Ow!" he shouted as a couple dozen cuts opened all over his body. Erza thought she had been careful enough not to cut him, but it seemed she had gotten careless. She hung her head in shame. She had failed Natsu. He had been nice enough to give her all that fish, and for seemingly no reason too. But she had hurt him, despite his trust. Erza was so consumed with guilt, she didn't notice the torn remains of Natsu's bathing suit fall off.

Erza looked up at Wendy and Levy's squeals. Then she noticed Natsu had, in her mind, taken off his bathing suit. So she grabbed the top of his head and pushed down hard. She buried him up to his neck in the sand. "Erza! What are you doing?!" He hollered as he started struggling from side to side and flames were shooting out of his mouth. She clamped his jaw shut, to make sure he didn't harden the sand into glass. It would be very inconvenient to have to break him out of glass.

"Natsu, you know stripping for no reason is Gray's ... I guess it's a hobby. Don't you think he'll be hurt that you tried to copy him?" Everyone around them face palmed, but Erza didn't notice. She had spoken with such sincerity that the love potion made Natsu believe her. He really thought he had been trying to copy Gray. "Natsu, I appreciate the sushi, but I can't eat your gift after doing what you did. I'm so ashamed of you, I can't bear to look at you. I'm going back to my room."

As she was walking away, Erza noticed Gray glaring at Natsu with more hostility than she had ever seen from him. Erza shook her head. She mentally reprimanded Natsu for copying Gray.

What she didn't realize was that Gray wasn't angry about that; he hadn't even heard her bring up that theory. What he was angry about were Natsu's obvious attempts to flirt with Erza. Gray had loved Erza for years. It had been bad enough when he had been carried off in the middle of the Heaven's Tower incident, and Natsu had been the one to save her from Jellal, and from the exploding tower. But now he was actually trying to get her to like him. Gray wouldn't forgive Natsu. Gray had loved her all these years, since the time he saw her crying alone by the river. Realized that when she acted tough around everyone, kept up her armor; she was just hiding her true feelings. He just wanted her to know that she could let her armor down around him. But Natsu was trying to get in the way of that. Gray hated Natsu, truly hated him at that moment.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the delay. But I have a few more chapters saved up on my computer, and I'll be getting those out today._

Chapter 3

Lucy was walking along the beach. She couldn't stop thinking about Natsu. That flame brained, annoying, pink haired, home invading, handsome, kind... Lucy couldn't believe she'd just complimented him. Even in her thoughts. Sure, he'd saved her plenty of times. Like when they had first met, Bora and his band of slavers had her on their ship. She didn't have her Celestial Spirit keys, so she couldn't do anything to fight back. But Natsu, only having known her a day, flew in and defeated all of them. During the whole Phantom incident, she had been trapped in a high tower. She was to be sent back to her father, so she could be married off and would never see anyone from Fairy Tail again. But she had known, deep down inside, that Natsu was coming for her. To rescue her. So she had jumped off the tower. And he had caught her. Later, when she had been recaptured, and Gajeel was beating her, Natsu had burst in and battled him. Lucy had even managed to help him thanks to Sagittarius. And on and on, he had always been there when she needed him most. When she hit her lowest points. Just when she thought she had lost.

But Natsu wasn't the only one. There was another. Someone who had also saved her on many occasions. Loke. Leo the lion. One of her Celestial Spirits. The handsome spirit had saved her life on more than one occasion too.

But that wasn't what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Natsu and Erza. It was weird. Natsu had given her breakfast in bed, although it hadn't looked like Erza could actually eat the flaming remains Natsu had given her. And he had tried to give her that fish, to make sushi. He had really taken what Erza said about eating something he gave her if it wasn't burned seriously. And Lucy had enjoyed the look on Happy's not so happy face when Natsu walked past him. But Natsu had never displayed any interest in Erza before. What had changed? Nothing Lucy knew had changed. Though she remembered something, something that would account for Natsu's strange behavior. It was on the tip of her tongue. Then a tentacle wrapped around her leg.

She screamed as she was lifted and hung upside down. She looked down the length of the tentacle to see a massive sea creature rising out of the sea. It had a clear, dome shaped head, and had countless tentacles coming out from under it.

She pulled out the Celestial Spirit key for Capricorn, but before she could summon him, a burst of electricity ran through her body. She screamed in agony, though it wasn't the worst she had felt. She couldn't focus her magic through this pain to call one of her spirits. She couldn't even control her body, which was spasming as more tentacles grabbed her and wrapped around her left arm and stomach. This was just like what she'd just been thinking about. Natsu would save her! And if not him, Loke knew when she was in danger. He would help her. But moments passed and there was no burst of heat from Natsu's fiery fists, or a burst of light from Loke's glowing fists. Just the agony from this strange creature. Then she realized. They wouldn't come. Natsu had Erza now. Why did he need Lucy? She should be able to solve her own problems, right? But she couldn't. Not always. She wasn't as strong as Natsu, or Gray, or Loke, or Erza, or Mirajane. She was just Lucy. And she realized that she couldn't do anything on her own. Whenever she needed help, it had arrived. She was always being saved by her friends. What use was she?

Then, two voices shouted out near the ground. "Snow Magic: White Fury!" came a youngish, light voice. "Air Magic: Aerial Phose!" came a deeper, cooler voice. Lucy was stunned as two bursts, one of air and one of snow slammed into the strange creature. She flew from its grasp as it sank below the water. She heard swift running through the water and landed in strong arms. She expected to look up and see Natsu's smirk and pink hair, or Loke's own smirk of victory and his wild mane of dark hair. But standing above her with only worry in his eyes was Hibiki.

Hibiki! Of course! The man from Blue Pegasus, she had fought beside him against the Oracion Seis. They hadn't bonded too much during the time, but Lucy remembered that it was thanks to him that she had been able to defeat Angel. The Nirvana, an ancient and powerful machine that would change one's loyalties completely, had tried to turn him against her. But through sheer force of will, he had resisted, and also given her Urano Metria, her most powerful spell, the one that had beaten Angel. How had she forgotten him? Well, technically it had been seven years. But only to him.

He looked down at her with uncharacteristic sadness and pity. That confused her. Normally, he was suave and a total ladies' man. He had been dubbed one of the most attractive men in Fiore. And although he was capable of being a gentleman and had been very kind when he got serious, he had always had an air of confidence about him. But something was different. "Thanks for saving me Hibiki. But are you okay?" Lucy was a little worried that her rescuer may have suffered some kind of harm saving her. Great. Not only did she always need to be rescued, now the people who rescued her got hurt too. Lucy was the worst damsel in distress ever.

"Lucy, you know how my Archive magic works, right? I can give, store, analyze, and receive information to an inhuman level. Sometimes, when I'm touching someone, some of their thoughts come to me, especially when they're strong and emotional thoughts. I heard everything you just thought about yourself. About how you needed to be rescued, and how you were useless." How much had he heard? Enough probably. Well, now he'd put her down on the beach and he'd leave and not come back. Just like Natsu.

"Lucy, I can still hear everything. And I thought you knew me well enough to know I'm not that cold to people. Now let's work through what you're telling yourself. You say you constantly have to be saved. I got glimpses of your memories, and I saw the opponents you had to face. They were all stronger than you. It's amazing how much you managed to do. You may have needed other people's help, but they needed yours too. And you were able to keep up with Natsu, Gray, and Erza. I'll tell you, they're very powerful. The only member of our Blue Pegasus who is on their level would be Ichiya. To keep up with them as well as you did shows your own strength." Lucy hadn't thought of it that way. Yeah, all of her fights where she had needed help, they had been close calls even with her there. Her friends would have been defeated plenty of times without her there too. So she did contribute. "Next Lucy, is the matter of Natsu. Your feelings for him seem to be complicated, but you have what we call the Damsel Complex. People who are saved by someone else develop feelings for them. Natsu has saved you enough times that those feelings have multiplied. Whether it just adds to feelings that were already there, or you think you have feelings for him because of them, I don't know. But I can tell you Lucy, with absolute certainty. You are in love with Natsu Dragneel."

Lucy took all this in. It made plenty of sense. Natsu had rescued her plenty of times. More than she could remember. But maybe Hibiki was right and Lucy was in love with Natsu. But maybe she only loved that he had saved her. Whatever her feelings for Natsu, she would step back and see how this thing he had with Erza went. It was the least she could do for all the times he had saved her. And, in the meantime, she could see whether she developed feelings for someone else. Someone more... sharp than Natsu, the crude but lovable idiot. Someone who had also saved her life once or twice. Someone who had helped her through this emotional crisis. She looked up at Hibiki, who had been holding her for the past few minutes while he spoke and she thought, and saw his smile. She knew he had heard her question. And she saw his answer. "I know a nice restaurant near here. Ren and Eve can finish up here," he said indicating the tall, tan man with wild hair, Ren, and the shorter, younger Eve, far more innocent with his light eyes and hair. They nodded. This was standard routine for them. Someone saves a girl, the others clean up a mess. Hibiki had done it plenty of times in the past for them, and they for him. And Hibiki, still carrying Lucy, walked down the beach.

"You can put me down now Hibiki."


	4. Chapter 4

_I would like to apologize to any fans of Gray offended by some of the things he thinks and does in this chapter. It's for a reason, I swear. I love Gray (And I'll love him even more if my theory about Chapter 315 is correct), and I didn't plan for this to happen, but I seem to have turned Gray into male Juvia._

Chapter 4

Gray kept to himself for most of the day after Erza left a bleeding Natsu buried up to his neck in sand on the beach. But when dinner rolled around, and Natsu wasn't eating with the rest of them, Gray decided he'd eat with everyone. He quickly noticed that Lucy wasn't there either, nor was Juvia, so it was only Gray, Wendy, Levy, Jet, Droy, and of course Erza. The lovely Titania. Queen of the Fairies they called her. Gray only wanted her to be his queen.

Dinner past uneventfully, which was an event in-and-of-itself because Natsu usually caused a huge commotion, but just as Erza was leaving he came up. Natsu. Gray glared at him, trying to will his competition out of existence. He blinked. Juvia did that same exact thing to Lucy. Even though Lucy and Gray did not have feelings for one another. But Natsu did have feelings for Erza, so it was okay when Gray did it. He tuned back in just in time for Natsu to say "Erza, I have a surprise for you! But you're going to have to wear a blindfold."

A blindfold! Natsu would probably lead her somewhere private and he would start kissing her, and Erza would valiantly fight back, but would eventually succumb to Natsu's will, and then they would be getting married and-. Gray took a deep breath. He was turning into Juvia.

"I'll go with you Natsu, but if you strip again, you'll offend Gray and I'll be displeased with you." She indicated Gray on the word "strip" as Gray was only in his boxers at that point. But he didn't even seem to notice. Erza expected Natsu to take his clothes off in front of her. The fiend! Gray would have to follow them to make sure Natsu didn't try anything.

"I'll keep my clothes on the whole time Erza. I promise." Gray could see Natsu had his hands behind his head as he said "I promise" after handing Erza the blindfold. He had probably crossed his fingers. He _was_ planning on stripping in front of her. And then she would see his muscles and she would have no choice but to fall in love with him and they'd have lots of babies and- There he goes again with the crazy fantasies. Gray needed to get away from Juvia.

They walked off, and he discreetly followed from a distance. He followed them through the halls, until Natsu lead her into a small closet. Gray came up behind them and looked through a small hole in the door, but it was dark in the room. Of course, Natsu would make his move in the dark, and then their eldest son would be Natsu Jr. and their second oldest would be named after Gray because he was always second and- Gray _really_ needed to stop doing that. How did Juvia ever get anything done? Then, Natsu shot out a small fire.

The room was illuminated and Erza quickly became delighted at the sight. In the center of the small room was a cake. It was lop-sided and looked ready to fall apart, but there was a candle wick above, and it spelled out Erza's name in cursive writing. The light from Erza's burning name was the only illumination in the room. Well, that and Natsu's enormous smile. Erza looked at him. He had probably spent the whole day working on it. It was far from the prettiest cake she had seen, but Natsu had put his heart and soul into it. She could tell. She wrapped him up in a hug. He was so warm, how had she not noticed before. He did breathe fire, but she had never noticed how warm he was. Unless it was her. And as she held him close, Erza's heart started to beat faster. She had felt like this only twice before. Once, seven years ago, on Heaven's Tower. And again just the night before. Both times with the same man. She had never felt this way around Natsu though. But she shoved the other man out of her head. Simply calling him the other man made it easier. As long as she didn't think of his name, she wouldn't get the tidal wave of memories and emotions. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you Natsu," and there had been few times she had been this grateful to someone, usually Natsu himself too. This would go a long way to helping her forget Jellal.

The room was illuminated and Gray quickly became filled with dread. In the center of the small room was a cake. It was lop-sided and looked ready to fall apart, but there was a candle wick above, and it spelled out Erza's name in cursive writing. The light from Erza's burning name was the only illumination in the room. Well, that and Gray's eyes blazing in fury, a fury directed at Natsu. How _dare_ he! How dare he do something so kind and considerate, as to make Erza a cake, her favorite food! How had Gray himself not thought of it? She was always eating cake, why hadn't he thought to make her one? Then she hugged Natsu. Gray's blood boiled, but his body froze. He wanted to burst in there and beat Natsu into a bloody pulp. But he couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. Then, Erza said "Thank you Natsu," and Gray died inside. He had never heard her speak like that. But he had heard that tone from Juvia enough times to recognize it.

Thinking about Juvia made him realize something. He was spying on Erza during one of her deepest and most private moments. He should know better than anyone not to do that. He cursed himself. Of course Erza didn't love him. He was like a male Juvia, who stripped a lot. He quickly turned and walked away. He would leave, but he would talk to her after. And he would see how her feelings for Natsu held up once Gray brought up Jellal.


	5. Chapter 5

_Actually, after rereading this chapter, I think my Gray may be even more of a Juvia than Juvia herself. Oops._

Chapter 5

Juvia watched in confusion as Erza walked away from poor Natsu-san, who was still buried up to his neck in sand. As Erza stormed off, Juvia walked over to Natsu. She summoned a length of water from her hand and wrapped it around his neck. She pulled hard and yanked him out of the ground. He was still naked from when Erza had torn apart his bathing suit. But Juvia didn't notice. He had his hands wrapped around his neck and made choking noises as she carried him off. "Natsu-san, Juvia wishes to speak with you."

Lucy walked over to her. "Juvia, you may want to let go of his neck." Juvia tried not to glare at her rival in love. Juvia knew Lucy was plotting to steal Gray-sama from her, but Juvia had more important things to worry about. Juvia had seen how Natsu-san looked at Erza-san. Natsu-san was in love with Erza-san. Just like Juvia was in love with Gray-sama. And Juvia knew how hard it was to be in love. Gray-sama barely seemed to notice Juvia, especially when she was following him on missions. It was very strange. "Um, Juvia, you've been standing there for a couple minutes, and Natsu's still having trouble breathing. Maybe you should let him go?"

Juvia looked at her rival in love in contempt. "Lucy, I know you're just trying to distract me. I need to speak to Natsu-san though. If you'll excuse me. Natsu-san, follow me." Everyone watching face palmed as Juvia dragged a now gurgling Natsu behind her.

Natsu took several deep gulps of air. "Thanks for letting me breath again Juvia." Natsu had no idea why Juvia had, literally, dragged him out here, but he was going to focus on breathing. Natsu had forgotten how nice it was to be able to breathe. Breathing was wonderful.

Juvia waved her hand dismissively at Natsu's gratitude. She still didn't realize she had been choking Natsu. She also didn't realize Natsu was still naked. She tried to focus on how she was going to say what she wanted to say. "Natsu-san, I know how you feel for Erza, and I'd like to help. Now, tell me what Erza-san likes."

Natsu didn't quite understand the first part of her statement, but Natsu instantly knew what Erza liked. "Erza likes to hurt people!" Natsu had a huge grin on his face; he was so proud of himself. He remembered all the times Erza had beaten him and Gray into unconsciousness.

But Juvia just shook her head in negative. "Something you can give to her."

The still very naked Natsu thought about that for a few minutes. Finally, Natsu came to an answer. "Erza loves cake!"

Juvia nodded. Of course, Erza-san was always eating cake. That would be perfect. Juvia knew how to bake, and there was a kitchen in the hotel. "Alright Natsu-san. Then why don't we go bake a cake, a cake for you and Erza."

"Really Juvia?! You'd bake me a cake? Thanks Juvia!" Juvia decided not to point out that the cake was for him and Erza to share. He was just joking. Probably. And so Juvia and the still painfully naked Natsu walked back to the hotel to bake a cake.

As Juvia watched Natsu-san and Erza-san destroy the cake, she recalled that Natsu-san had been naked the whole time they had been baking. Juvia was amazed she hadn't realized it until after the fact. She smiled, Gray-sama did the exact same thing. Running around naked. It was one of the countless things Juvia loved about Gray-sama. She smiled down at Erza-san and Natsu-san. They were having so much fun.

Then Natsu paused. He stuck his nose in the air. He sniffed around for a moment, and then his face split into a huge grin. "Juvia, come down here and have some of this cake you helped bake!"

Erza looked around in surprise, and then saw Juvia looking down through a hole in the ceiling. She smiled and said "Yes Juvia, come down and enjoy this delicious cake with us. You're going to have to show me your recipe." A dark look came over Erza's face as she said "Are we clear on that?"

Juvia just laughed as she turned into water and flowed through the hole to join them. "Of course Erza-san. I didn't think it was special, so I didn't think to share it with you before. But I'd be happy to."

They all smiled and laughed as they enjoyed the cake. Juvia loved Fairy Tail. It was always so nice to be included in happy moments like these. After all the years Juvia had spent alone, there was nothing she loved more than moments like these, moments she had only gotten to experience because of Fairy Tail.

Erza and Natsu both turned from their cake at the same time. "Are you okay Juvia?"

Juvia paused for a second, and then realized that she was crying. "Don't worry, Juvia is crying tears of happiness, not tears of sadness. Juvia has cried enough tears of sadness in her life to know the difference."

Erza shook her head. "Juvia, I love your optimism. Your optimism and loyalty are the things I love most about you. I don't know why Gray doesn't see it the same way as the rest of us."

"Yeah Juvia! You're awesome!" Natsu shouted.

The tears came with a vengeance. "Juvia just loves everyone in Fairy Tail. You don't have to make a big deal about it. You're all so kind to Juvia all the time." Juvia could never express her joy at being let into Fairy Tail. Even though she had fought them. Especially because of that. Everyone was always so kind to Juvia. Especially Gray-sama. But he would love her eventually. Juvia knew it. Because Juvia loved him. With all her heart.

Time passed, and eventually the cake had been completely eaten. "Well, I'm going to head to bed now. Goodnight Juvia." Erza smiled. "Goodnight Natsu. I hope you sleep well." Then she turned abruptly and left.

"Natsu-san, I think she may be returning your feelings for her. And in such a short time." Juvia smiled weakly. "Unlike Gray." It had been over seven years since Juvia had met Gray. But he still felt the same. He still didn't love her.

Natsu-san didn't seem to realize what Juvia was talking about. He simply replied "Thanks Juvia! And thanks for helping me bake that delicious cake too!" Juvia just had to smile at his naivety.


End file.
